M.F.K. Fisher Emerging Writers Contest

The M.F.K. Fisher Emerging Writers Contest, now entering its seventh exciting year, celebrates the legacy of M.F.K. Fisher and her passion for encouraging aspiring writers and artists. The contest has received hundreds of submissions from across the United States and as far away as Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Canada, Copenhagen, France, India, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.

Stewarded for its first six years by All Hands Ecology (formerly Audubon Canyon Ranch), site of M.F.K. Fisher’s “Last House,” the writing contest is now a project of the M.F.K. Fisher Foundation.

2025 Winners

Theme: The evocative subject of water attracted a wealth of writing approaches, such as science fiction, memoir, poetic reflection, climate fiction, and other styles.

Read the winning 2025 submissions.

Read announcement of winners.

Adults

First place: Cooper Matuszak, “Wading” 

Second place: W Goodwin, “Footbridge” 

Third place: Laurel Ekstrom, “Dead Ice”

Youth  

First place: Afina Chenmei Liang, “How to Become a River” 

Second place: Rebecca Liu, “Memories Water Holds” 

Third place: Nicole Um, “Weight of Empty Cup” 

Children

First place and grand prize: Vittoria Molinari, “I Am the Sea, and I Remember” 

Second place: Audrey Chen, “The Liquid Revolution” 

Third place: Keziah Khoo, “How Can Water” 

2024 Winners

Theme: Participants were called upon to explore the concept of belonging in nature.

Read announcement of winners and their submissions.

Adults

First place and grand prize: Scott McMorrow, “Bird People” 

Second place: Eva Parr, “Land Intimacy” 

Third place: Sara Alexander, “Le Fave” 

Youth

First place: Isabella Guglielmetti, “Cricket, Cricket” 

Second place: Biana Toussaint, “Shadow Cliffs” 

Third place: Katie Kim, “Treasure Hunt” 

Children

First place: Annika Thakarar (grand prize winner 2022), “The Pond”  

Second place: Kellie Howie, “Untitled” 

Third place: Siaansh Bhadaurie, “Givers and Takers”

2023 Winners

Theme: Writers were asked to explore hunger’s many forms and how we satisfy, ignore, or otherwise address this most basic and fundamental force of human existence.

Read announcement of winners and their submissions.

Adult Category

First place and grand prize winner: Marilyn Noah, “Oranges” 

Second place: Viviana Tul, “Well Fed Child” 

Third place: Andrea Oskis, “You Had Me at Goodbye”

Youth Category

First place: Luana Stathopoulos, “Save Me a Slice” 

Second place: Hailey Richards, “Hunger” 

Third place: Elisa Pattyn, “One More Nickel” 

Children’s Category

First place: Pranav Rajesh, “Hunger” 

Second place: Siaansh Singh Bhadauria, “Falcon Five” 

Third place: Natalya Bender, “The Duck that Got Away”

2022 Winners

Theme: Writers were asked to explore the themes of renewal, rebirth, reemergence.

Read announcement of winners and their submissions.

Adults

First place: Sara Alexander, “Lilacs in Spring”

Second place: Rei Ellison, “Baby Season”

Third place: Jessica McCahon, “Valley of the Fox”

Youth

First place: Giselle Oldani, “Untitled (When I was Very Young)”

Second place: Eva Chen, “A Lesson from My Mother About the Origins of Life”

Third place: Afina Liang, “Flower by the Creek”

Children

First place and grand prize: Annika Thakarar, “Heartfelt”

Second place: Eric Wu, “What I Learned from a Pot of Pork Intestines”

Third place: Cara Wang, “Twice Bloomed”

2021 Winners

Theme: Writers took to heart our theme, which was in the spirit of M.F.K. Fisher’s How to Cook a Wolf, to write about the power and magic of survival skills.

Read announcement of winners and their submissions.

Adults

First place (tie) and grand prize: Emma Rose, “Fed by Nature”

First place (tie): Nick Heitkamp, “Letter to My Californio Son”

Second place: Janet Constantino, “Liberation”

Third place: Linda Preminger, “Re-Rooting”

Youth

First place: Leah Burch, “Just Breathe”

Second place: Zoe Rocco-Zilber, “The Women’s Land Army’s Beginnings and Importance”

2020 Winners

Theme: Writers were asked to explore the connection between environmental conservation, science and nature, food and drink, and the cultures surrounding them.

Read announcement of winners and their submissions.

Adults

First place: Rachel Reed, “Love Letter to an Empty Lot”

Second place: Peter Albert, “Sandwiched”

Third place: Lorelle Saxena, “Passing Through”

Honorary mention: April D’avila, “Tending Tomatoes”

Youth

One excellent winner: Natalie Sandoval, “Local Eats”

Children

First place and grand prize: Josh Cohen, “Rain”

Second place: Vivian Cuneo, “Untitled”

Third place: William Francis Stoltzfus, “Environmental Conservation”